Shoe heel



Patented Se t. 18, 1934 1,973,785 SHOE HEEL James F. Walsh, South Orange, N. J., and Alfred J. Steinberger, Jamaica, N. Y., assignors to Celluloid Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 16, 1930, Serial No. 421,170

3 Claims.

This invention pertains to the general class of shoe heels and particularly to the class of shoe heels that are adapted for use with women's shoes.

Heels for womens shoes are generally made of wood or built up with leather. Certain objections are raised to wooden and leather heels among which are, difiiculty of manufacture, high cost, lack of strength, heaviness, instability of color, etc. To overcome these difiiculties, heels made with metal and with condensationproducts such as synthetic resin have been proposed. Heels made from these materials have generally lacked the required elasticity and resiliency as well as absence of noise when in use, have not been of a character such as -to permit further process ng after once being formed, such as by cutting, turning, tooling, or otherwise forming or decorating, have not been of a character such as to be easily and quickly attachable'to the shoe, etc.

An object of our invention, therefore, is to provide a novel shoe heel.

A further object of our invention is to provide a shoe heel possessing the required elasticity and resiliency, that is light in weight, that possesses the required strength, that may be readily tooled and decorated, that may be readily and permanently polished and readily repolished if scratched or marred, that may be of any color without limit, that may be easily and quickly attached to the shoe, that permits the ready attachment of a lift,

that is of low cost, that is simple in construction, and that is'otherwise highly satisfactory for its intended purpose.

Many other objects and advantages will become apparent to persons skilled in the art as the specification-proceeds.

Our novel shoe heel is made with a cellulosic plastic. A particular construction is preferred in order to enable ready attachment to the shoe.

In the drawing wherein like reference characters are appended to like parts throughout the various figures,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of our novel shoe heel, showing a shoe in broken lines.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the heel shown in Figure 1. 1

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a plate used in attaching the heel shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of a modification of theinvention.

Figure 5 is a bottom plan-view of the shoe heel shown in Figure '4.

Figure 6 is a perspective. view of a plate for closing the bottom of the shoe heel shown in Fig- "ures 4 and 5.

Figure '7 is a longitudinal section illustrating modified means of attaching our novel shoe heel,

a portion of a shoe being shown in dotted lines.

Referring to Figures 1, 2, and-3, at 1, is shown a shoe in broken lineshaving a heel 2 made with a cellulosic plastic attached thereto. The heel 2 may be of any size or configuration as desired, and is preferably made hollow as shown at 3. The top 4 of heel 2, may be of any configuration such as to conform to the shoe 1. The heel 2 is preferably provided with a recessed portion 5, and a'circumferential shoulder 6 at the bottom of the recess 5. Recess and shoulder 6 are designed to accommodate a plate! also of a cellulosic plastic and secured to the shoe 1 by any suitable means, such as with cement, nailing, pegging, etc. The bottom 8 of heel 2 is preferably closed and integral with the s de walls thereof. A lift 9.,may be attached to the bottom 8 by any suitable means such as with a cement, nailing. P etc.

To attach the heel 2 to the shoe 1, it is merely necessary to first secure the plate '7 in place by any suitable means. The plate '1 and the heel 2 being both of a cellulosic plastic, are readily and firmly cementable to each other. It is therefore,

merely necessary to apply, a cellulosic plastic ccment to the contiguous parts of the plate 7 and heel 2, then place the heel in position andallow the cement to dry. The plate 7 and heel 2 may, of course, be joined by any other suitable means.

A suitable cement for this purpose as well as for attaching the lift 9 is as follows: It is, ofcourse, understood that any other cement may be employed.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 show a modification of the invention wherein the heel 12- has a continuous top 14 of a shape and configuration to conform to the rear portion of the shoe. This heel is also preferably hollow as shown at 13. The bottom Formula. A

- Parts Pyroxylin 100 Tricresyl phosphate 80 Ester gum 60 Ethyl acetate 50% Alc 560 Benzol 25% Butyl acetate 15% Formula B Parts Cellulose acetate -1 100 Triacetin Dimethyl phthalate 20 Paraethyl toluol sulphonamid 20 Ester gum Acetone Ethyl acetate 25% Benzol 10% Q8. Dioxan a Methyl cellosolve l 10% 18, however, is provided with a recess 20 and a shoulder. 21, which is preferably circumferential.

Recess 20 and shoulder 21 accommodates. plate 22 which is also preferably. of a cellulosic plastic.

' Plate 22 is secured in place by means of a suitable cement or any other suitable means. A lift 19 may be secured tothe plate 22 and/or the body- 18 by any means such as with a cement, nailing, P etc- To secure the heel 12 in place, nailing, pegging, cementing or any other means may be resorted to. In Figure '7 is shown a modification of means i for attaching, heel 2. Plate 2'7 has a portion 28 which extends through the bottom 29 (shown dotted) of a shoe, and an extended more or less fiat portion 30 which rests on the inner bottom surface. All of the parts may be retained in place by cementing or otherwise.

Heels 2 and 12 are preferably made by. molding and are preferably though not necessarily hollow as shown. Meansfor molding these heels will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art and familiar with our invention, and

forms no part of our invention. The walls of' the heels may be of any desired thickness to provide proper strength, resiliency, etc. It is of course, understood that our novel heel may be made solid if desired, in which case the recess 20, shoulder 21, and plate 22, of heel 12, are eliminated.

Any of the cellulosic plastics such as those made with cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose propionate, methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, benzyl cellulose, cellulose phthalate, etc. are available for our purposes. However, we prefer to employ plastics made with cellulose acetate in view of their highly desirable molding characteristics. The heels may be made in solid colors, mottles or other- -wise as desired. The heels and plates need not necessarily be of the same cellulosic plastic.

The cellulosic plastics may be made by any means known in the art and may be of any composition which is sufllciently rigid to withstand .the ordinary stresses to which shoe heels are subjected. I While we do not limit ourselves to any specific formula, the following are very satisfactory for Dibutyl tartrate 5 Formula C Parts Cellulose nitrate 100 Camphor 5-15 Dibutyl phthalate 25-40 Tricresyl phosphate 5-15 Gypsum 100-200 Formula D Parts Ethyl cellulose 100 Tricresyl phosphate 10-15 Camphor 5 Triacetin 10 Dimethyl phthalate 15-30 Talc- 100-200 Our novel heel has shock absorbing character:

istics not shared by any other material of which we are aware. It may be made in any color without limit, and lends itself to any of the finishing processes known inthe cellulosic plastic art.

The cements herein set forth will firmly, securely, and permanently hold the heel in plate. It is, of course, understood that any other suitable cement or other means may be used for this purpose.

Having described our invention it is obvious that many modifications may be made in the same within the scope of the claims without departing from our invention.

We claim:

1. In a shoe having a sole provided with an opening in its heel seat portion, a heel having a recess inits seat portion, and a plate of cellulosic plastic disposed in the upper side of said sole and having a projecting portion extending through the opening in the heel seat portion of the sole and engaging in the recess in the heel and united to said heel by a cellulosic bond.

2. In a shoe having a sole provided with an opening in its heel seat portion, a heel having a recess in its seat portion, and a plate of cellulose acetate plasticdisposed in the upper side of said sole and having a projecting portion extending through the opening in the heel seat portion of the sole and engaging in the recess in the heel and united to said heel by a bond comprising cellulose acetate.

3. In a shoe having a sole provided with an opening inits heel seat portion, a heel having a recess in its seat portion, and a plate of pyroxylin plastic disposed in the upper side of said sole and having a projecting portion extending throughthe opening in the heel seat portion of the sole and engaging in the recess in the heel and united to said heel by a bond comprising pyroxylin. 

